Parwal ki Mithai

I guess this Indian confection is a rarity and you won’t find it easily in sweet shops, unless you happen to be in Bihar or Varanasi. The process of turning a vegetable into a tasty sweet course requires some effort. But this mellow comfit is worth the effort and time it takes.

My mom makes this every year in summers when pointed gourd (parwal in Hindi) is available in plenty in market. I asked its recipe every summer but somehow never make it. My husband is not found of pointed gourd so whenever I mention him I’m going to make Parwal ki Mithai he would say why you have to make something that I don’t like. He always wants me to make sweets that he is fond of, like jalebi or gulab jamun. 🙂

However, last week when my mom visited me, I asked her to make it in my kitchen. To me, biting this dry sweet felt ambrosia, I missed this indulgence so much. My husband’s reaction was – “OK, I will only have the filling”. But, to my delight he had it completely without leaving the outer layer of parwal.

If you are getting tempted to make it this summer, here is the process to make this not-so-common sweet!

Ingredients

Pointed gourd (parwal): 250gms

Sugar: 1cup

Water: 1 cup

Ingredients for Stuffing

Mawa: 1cup

Sugar powder: ½ cup

Cardamom powder: 1tsp

Almond and pistachio flakes: 1 tsp

Muskmelon seeds: 1tsp

Procedure

While buying parwal choose of bigger size. As it allows more mawa filling in it, making it more tasty. Wash and peel the outer layer of parwal and make a vertical cut.

Scoop out the inside seed filling and keep it aside. These seeds are of no use in this recipe.

Take 1 cup of sugar and equal amount of water in heavy bottom skillet or pan. Drop the parwal in it and let it simmer on low flame. Keep checking in between. In approximately in 15 minutes, parwal will get soft. To check if it’s done you need to observe it carefully. Surface of parwal will become shiny, indicating it’s time to take them out of sugar syrup.

Take them out and drain excess sugar syrup from them. Now proceed to prepare the filling for these shinning beauties.

Procedure for Stuffing

Roast mawa on medium flame on heavy bottom skillet. Roasted mawa increases the shelf life of dry sweets. In around 5 minutes, take it off the heat and add sugar powder and rest of the ingredients. Mix well and stuffing is ready.

Stuff each parwal with a spoonful of mawa filling, and press gently by your fingers.

At this stage they are soft and delicate. So, place them in refrigerator for 1-2 hours and they’ll become firm. If store this sweet in refrigerator, it can easily last for 10 days.

Even if you don’t like parwal go ahead and try this sweet as after getting boiled in sugar syrup there is hardly any taste of parwal in it. You will find its taste closer to chandrakala (dry sweet which has similar mawa-filling).

Additional info:

One may add green color in sugar syrup or boil parwal in water with a pinch of baking soda to get greener parwals. However, keeping health in mind, my mom forgoes both these beautification steps. Still parwal ki mitahi that she makes is amazingly delicious.

Here I have shared exactly how my mom makes parwal ki mithai. If you happen to make this sweet following this recipe, and you like it then credit goes to my mom. However, if by any chance (although very unlikely), you don’t like it, it’s my fault. As I got you into making it by sharing tempting pictures. 🙂

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Thanks for your visit Benjamin, glad to see you here. Thanks for your suggestion about video. I’m just getting use to clicking pictures at every stage of cooking or doing art work. May be it will take some time for me getting use to making videos.